Hero in daring Hudson River rescue has a track record as a lifesaver

The FDNY Paramedic who saved a man in the Hudson River yesterday made a similar save two years ago.

Niall O'Shaughnessy and his partner saw police units pulling up to the water as they drove along the West Side highway.

They decided to turn their car around and assist in the rescue.

O'Shaughnessy says officers had already lowered a life ring to the victim, but he couldn't get a grip on it.

That's when the EMT took off his gear, and jumped in the freezing cold water.

"After I submerged and came back up, I put my arms around the victim that was in the water and I pushed him back on the life ring and pushed him back up with my body just to hold him against the life ring," said FDNY Paramedic Niall O'Shaughnessy. "I locked my arms around the life ring just to keep him secure there. It was getting really cold at that stage and I could feel the hypothermia setting in. I knew I wouldn't be able to climb up the ladder with the victim, so NYPD Harbor their boat managed to pull in and I was able to hand the patient off."